Stir Fry, Mushroom Sage Chicken, and Sugar Apples

Well, we "dodged the bullet" today.  According the the Weather Channel we were all supposed to die in a Class 12 Hurricane at 9:37 this morning!!!  At least that's what they made it sound like.    

Keep crying "wolf" Weather Channel, and we'll keep ignoring your 'sex sells weather' babbling bubble-brains.  

At 9:37 this morning it was 79 degrees and mostly sunny.  I'm just saying.....

Simple Stir Fry

When we have leftover bits of diced or chopped veggies from salads, one of Sally's favorite things for me to do is stir fry them -- whether I use Asian spices or not. High heat, minimal oil, this simple stir fry is yellow tomato, red bell pepper, celery and young seed pods from our Moringa tree. Young Moringa seed pods are great when stir fries or cooked like green beans, they taste like a cross between asparagus and green beans. If they get bigger than a pencil in diameter they get very woody and aren't good eats. I spiced this stir fry with some Badiatm Sazon Complet - a nice 'all day' seasoning - available in the Ethnic section of your megamart.

Mushroom Sage Chicken Casserole

This one is a moderate amount of work -- several distinct steps and a longish ingredient list -- but well worth the effort. The ingredients are pretty common. And the first three steps can be done in advance, even a day ahead. Everything comes together in Step 5. Just take things one step at a time.

1/2 cup butter, divided

4 Chicken Breasts, boneless, skinless

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 Sweet Onion, diced

12 oz sliced fresh Mushrooms

1/4 cup Sherry

3 tablespoons All-Purpose Flour

3-1/2 cups Chicken Broth, low sodium preferred

1 cup Jasmin Rice

1-1/2 cup Frozen Green Peas

1/3 cup grated Parmesan Cheese

2 tablespoon chopped fresh Sage

Salt & Pepper to taste

1/2 cup sliced Almonds, toasted

8-10 whole Sage leaves, fried

Step 1:
In a small skillet or pan, heat 1/4" of oil to not quite smoking hot. Carefully, one at time lay in the whole sage leaves. Cook for not more than 30 seconds each, remove with tongs, and drain on a paper towel. Reserve for garnish. Wipe out the skillet or pan and toast 1/2 or more of sliced/slivered almonds until just turning brown. Reserve separate from fried sage.

Step 2:
Put the cup of raw rice in a pot with 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 20 minutes. Reserve rice.

Step 3:
Melt 2 Tbsp butter in a skillet over medium-high heat; add the breasts 'beauty' side down, and cook 3-4 minutes or until nicely browned, turn and cook another 2 minutes on the other side. Transfer to a plate and cut each breast in half lengthwise, then into bite-size pieces. Reserve. 

Add 2 more Tbsp of butter to the skillet. Add the onion, and sauté until translucent. Add garlic, and cook 30 seconds before adding the mushrooms. Cook again until the mushrooms are tender. Stir in the sherry and cook 1 more minute. Remove from heat. Reserve seperate from the meat.

Step 4:
Melt 1/4 cup butter in a saucepan. Whisk in the flour to make a roux. Cook for a minute or two to lose the floury taste, but keep it a blond roux. Gradually whisk in the broth. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly, and cook until slightly thickened. 

Step 5:
Remove white sauce from the heat, add the rice, peas, fresh sage and spices. Then add the mushroom-onion mix. Stir to combine. Spread in a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish. Top with chicken pieces and dust with the Parmesan cheese.

Step 6:
Bake at 375° for 30 to 35 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes so the rice will absorb the bubbling liquids.   Sprinkle with almonds and garnish with fried sage leaves.

Sugar Apple - Custard Apple - Cherimoya

Here's another wonderful tropical fruit to explore.   There are several varieties of "Soursops", although I'm not sure how they got the soursop name, because they aren't sour if they're ripe. At least one variety, know locally as Custard Apple is a native Florida fruit. My friends from Pine Island Botanicals had both the pictured Sugar Apples and a Custard Apples at their booth on Thursday. 

 All are mildly sweet, with overtones of banana and custard flavors. By the time you get done 'processing' the fruit it certainly does resemble custard, with some of the grainy texture of apple. This is another fruit that you want to get 'soft' ripe before using.

Cut the fruit in halves or quarters and scoop out the flesh with all those dark seeds. 

Now comes the 'hard' part. Mash the fruit with a fork, and separate out all those inedible black seeds. Each seed has a sort of skin over it that needs to be removed and returned to the 'flesh pot' (I just had to say that!). When the seeds are gone you can mash a bit more then top icecream. 

 Or repeat with several Custard Apples and make a smoothie. Or if you have an ice cream maker, incorporate the fruit into an ice cream base and make an extra special flavor. I even discovered that in Peru and Australia, they make Cherimoya wine, and found a couple recipes. Now that I gotta try!